I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cuing system for activating one music source from another music source and, more particularly, to a high-frequency cue tone and a sensor circuit for accomplishing the same.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Various means for cuing in a second piece of music upon the termination of a first piece of music are known in the art. This procedure is commonly employed by radio stations providing musical formats of all varieties. The purpose of the cuing system is to enable a music source to be activated simultaneously and automatically upon the termination of a prior selection. Such a cuing system minimizes dead space between musical selections thereby reducing air-time expenses and the risk of losing the listening audience.
Radio stations traditionally broadcast music recorded on reel-to-reel tapes. When a tape has finished playing, another tape must necessarily be cued-in. This is usually accomplished by the placing of an index-pointer, or a 25 hertz signal, on the first reel-to-reel tape at the point where it is desirable to cue-in the second tape. Appropriate sensing means are provided to detect the index-pointer and, in response thereto, to activate the following tape.
Employing reel-to-reel tapes, however, is a drawback in light of the newer compact disc (CD) technology and other audio-to-digital storage mediums which provide superior sound quality and greater convenience. Unfortunately, the index-pointer cuing system employed in the reel-to-reel tapes cannot be adapted for use with compact disk equipment. This is so because most compact disk players in production do not provide the necessary electronic capabilities to interpret the low frequency cue-tones and to activate secondary players in response thereto. Another drawback is the undesirability of a low-frequency cue tone itself since the tone, which is audible to the casual listener, must necessarily be transmitted over the frequency modulation (FM) radio band.